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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26791111">Down the Line</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Averia/pseuds/Averia'>Averia</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Superman (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dick Grayson Gets a Hug, F/M, M/M, News Media, POV Outsider, Pre-New 52, Pre-Relationship, References to Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:27:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,058</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26791111</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Averia/pseuds/Averia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just Bruce being Bruce, Clark says. Lois Lane begs to differ.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>277</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Down the Line</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Rated M for Past-False Accusations implying Child Abuse.</p><p>Inspired by the following canon moments: <em><a href="https://thebatfamily.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/jla-titans-01-331.jpg">Batman hugging Dick means he isn't Bruce </a>&amp; Dick hugging Bruce (<a href="https://crisisonearthprime.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/screw_the_rules.png">1</a>) </em><em>forces discomfort (<a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/40/0a/de/400adeb003ee282dd000615bb2ff5e2d.jpg">2</a>)</em>, as well as Greg Rucka's fabulous Lois Lane (2019).</p><p>Originally intended for the BruDick Week Prompt: “You haven’t hugged me in years.” Let’s hope I manage to write something for the <a href="https://brudick-week.tumblr.com/">2021 Week</a>. ✌️</p><p>Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading! &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The words on her screen blur even as she squints at them, nose sightly scrunched up in concentration. Her painted fingernail comes down sharply onto the keyboard, hitting print.</p><p>A slow exhale leaves her, and she stretches with a high sound, feels the tightness of her upper back and her shoulders. The messy bundle of hair atop her head is rearranged. Lois notices that it's starting to crease. She'll have to wash it soon, but as long as it's up in a messy bun, no one will notice. Not that there is anyone around to notice except for Clark and, maybe, Martha.</p><p>The air around her has grown stale over the last hours, so Lois pulls the jalousies up and opens the window with a sigh. All the while, her muscles, and joints seem to creak and crack with every move. She focused on that screen for far too long. Story of her life. </p><p>The still crisp air is a blessing, tickles her nose and makes her aware of just how bad the room smells. Her arms cross in front of her chest as the gentle but cool breeze raises small goosebumps across her skin. A yawn drops from her lips, and she leans against the window frame, watching the golden corn of the Kent farm sway near hypnotizingly with the wind.</p><p>It's Clark and her holiday. A few days in the year that the world has to live without Superman and the Daily Planet has to live without Lois Lane. Yet, all Lois can think about are the pages she has written.</p><p>Pages about the Wayne family.</p><p>Her days covering every news story involving the flamboyant Brucie Wayne, Gotham's darling son, have long since ended, and she is glad they have. Especially now that she knows every blinding smile and every flirtatious gesture is a lie. Her belief that there was something behind the exuberant behavior, something unsettling, was one of the reasons she wrote about Bruce Wayne in the first place. Now that she knows what it is, she leaves the articles – tales, really – to Clark. She trusts him to write the truth as much as he can. Now, she only attends Wayne galas to keep him company or to receive information to cover news that truly matter.</p><p>After all, Gotham is still a cesspool of crime. Local, national, and international.</p><p>Of course, going with Clark to face the Wayne family drew her back into their shenanigans eventually. The pages she has written are proof enough. </p><p>Patterns might not present themselves to her as effortlessly as to Batman, but she sees them still, especially when they are interpersonal - no matter how much she has been discredited as the stone-cold bitch or the hysteric fury.</p><p>Lois picks up the few pages the printer spit out, staples them, and strides out of the room like a woman on a mission. Clark looks up at her with a smile as she arrives in the small kitchen of the guest house, coffee to his lips, and another steaming cup already waiting for her. Despite its deep dark color, the coffee hides a load of sugar she is desperately craving for.</p><p>"I was starting to worry. Thought I might have to rescue you from Miss Papermonster," Clark chuckles, and Lois puts a kiss to his smooth cheek. The prickly scent of the aftershave makes her lips quirk.</p><p>"Hmm, I can deal with that monster on my own, farm boy."</p><p>The papers are left behind on the table as she pulls back again with a <em>thank you</em>, the coffee already in her hand. After sitting for so long, Lois opts to lean against the wall to take in the relaxed picture Clark makes. At least relaxed for now.</p><p>Clark's eyebrow rises, gentle fingers tugging the draft she has written in the last hours nearer.</p><p>"Is there a storm brewing in the Wayne Household?" Clark reads aloud, his mouth puckering into a frown soon after. She can practically hear the sighed <em>Lois. </em>Still, it doesn't come.</p><p>"I want to know what you think," she murmurs into her cup of coffee, thoughts jumping already. Bruce Wayne is all that has been on her mind since they left the gala. Bruce Wayne and his children. Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson.</p><p>Clark flips the page, gaze dragging over the paper.</p><p>"Despite long since said to be favored among his siblings, Richard Grayson's contact with Bruce Wayne is limited to cut-short touches while he is subjected to an evasion tactic Bruce Wayne usually employs around pesky business partners that have overstayed their welcome," Clark recites aloud as if he didn't just read the whole page in a nanosecond. His lips pull into a deeper frown, and then the baby blues rise to her.</p><p>"Lois," Clark sighs, shy of shaking his head, "what are you trying to say?"</p><p>Every so often, Lois wonders if Clark comprehends what she writes when he reads that fast. The other times, Lois fears that her first drafts are simply that bad - as bad as Perry always says they are.</p><p>"This isn't an article," she clarifies. If anything, it would be an interview... that is if she thought her questions would be answered by one standoffish Bruce Wayne. "I'm trying to organize my thoughts."</p><p>Clark says nothing, listens. That's why she loves him so much.</p><p>"I never quite noticed it but looking back it's hard to miss. What I mean is: Bruce never once hugged Dick yesterday, and he hasn't done so in the last few years either."</p><p>Clark blinks at her, then chuckles, shifting in his chair. "I'm sorry?"</p><p>"You heard me."</p><p>"Ok, so. We both know Bruce isn't much of a hugger. Especially not with the people he is close to. The people who know who he really is, who know that he doesn't show his care like that."</p><p>"He hugged <em>you</em>," Lois points out, one hand coming to settle against her hip, and Clark for his part at least stops to consider it.</p><p>"He did." A shrug follows as if it's ever that easy. "That's what Brucie does. Hugs his favorite reporters and the people that dislike him the most," Clark returns, and Lois has to agree to that - partially. She always enjoys the grimaces Luthor pulls while <em>Brucie Wayne</em> hugs him, visibly half-drunk and spewing anecdotes from their youth. Jimmy never fails to take a picture of them. They don't make it into any official paper - too much lawsuit potential - but Lois has a stack of them hidden away for future purposes. The thing is Bruce hugs Luthor because it riles the man up more than being ignored does.</p><p>"Barbara Gordon got a kiss on the cheek. Cassandra Cain a proper hug. Tim Drake and Bruce posed with their arms over each other's shoulder for a photo of the newly financed Opera. The major was degraded to a bystander by their familiarity. Damian Wayne got at least three ruffles through his hair even though he looked ready to explode like a little Vesuvius. Dick Grayson arrived and got a squeeze to his shoulder. Afterward, Bruce only interacted with Dick with either his date in his arms or with another of his kids as a buffer between them."</p><p>Clark scratches his head, staring into the distance for a while.</p><p>"You aren't wrong, but... Cassandra always brings that side out in Bruce. He knows it's comforting to her. He is expected to kiss Barbara on the cheek, and ignoring the major is pretty much Bruce's idea of fun. You said that yourself in this, uhm, draft. And Damian is his kid. If he doesn't ruffle his hair, how does that look? He did that with Dick too. Touched him too much according to you, as you might remember."</p><p>Lois clicks her tongue. "I do," she says, taking a sip from her coffee. She isn't sorry about that. It could have been, and anyone else might have taken a kid like Dick Grayson into their care for exactly the reason a lot of people feared back then. The bruises that littered Dick’s body and the number of sick days Dick took as a teen hadn’t helped. Things simply hadn’t looked good on paper nor in reality.</p><p>"I'm glad I wasn't right. But you're just searching for excuses now. Hell, you probably don't see it anymore."</p><p>"No, Lois," Clark says, serious. Just her luck that Clark is defensive of Bruce if she talks about the man’s <em>obvious</em> shortcomings. Not that his reaction is without reason as they just reestablished. "Bruce simply doesn't like hugging. I'm sure if you asked Dick, he could tell you the number of the rule for it."</p><p>"The number of the rule?" Lois asks drily.</p><p>"The No Hug Rule," Clark chuckles. Lois doesn't think it's funny. She also thinks Clark is wrong. But, as they so often do, his words help. Because his blindness comes from being a hero, and, while the media speaks to Brucie before they ever speak to Dick Grayson, heroes? Heroes will go to Nightwing if they can.</p><p>So, why not combine the two worlds to get the best results?</p><p>Lois lets the matter fall for the day as they simply enjoy walking around Smallville beneath the golden sun. The quiet country life isn't something Lois ever searches for, but she can enjoy tranquil days on vacation. In the evening, they help Martha on the farm and cook dinner for her with the fresh vegetables they harvested from the garden.</p><p>Brushing her teeth that night, she asks Clark to invite Bruce.</p><p>The good thing about vacation is that Clark hasn't needed a reason for inviting his fellow crime fighters for a long time now. During vacation, it’s understood that Clark will ineffably call at least one of them to ask if they want to meet up.</p><p>The following morning, Clark arranges a little get together in the only quiet restaurant Smallville has that won't offend a billionaire’s palate too much. Probably.</p><p>That Clark follows her request and makes his own arrangements without further comment and without stalling, is either a point for her because he finally got her point, or is a point against her because Clark wants to show her that she has no point. All the while enjoying some "normal people"-time with Bruce.</p><p>Lois can't let <em>that</em> happen. </p><p>Getting Dick Grayson's number isn't difficult. It would be even easier if she could simply ask Clark for it, but both Jimmy and Kara have it covered. Different numbers. One of crime-fighting nature, the other is his landline.</p><p>"Just wanted to make sure you gave them the right number," Lois says when she calls Dick on his mobile phone a second after she conveyed the date and time to him.</p><p>"'course," Dick says, his voice seeming a little further away, "In case you need to be saved by the mysterious and charming Nightwing instead of boring, old Superman, I assume?"</p><p>There is an amusement in his voice that's more teasing than Clark's, but there is no malice. It's as warm as the sun they walked through all day, and Lois grins. </p><p>It's a tragedy that Bruce doesn't even pinch his cheeks anymore.</p><p>"Don't tell my husband, boy wonder."</p><p>She doesn't mention to Clark that she invited Dick. He'll join them a little later anyway. Preferably when she has already gotten some information out of Bruce.</p><p>The day of the dinner, Bruce and Clark don't hug like they did when Bruce greeted them on the gala, but, reserved or not, Bruce's happiness to see Clark is genuine. His head tilts a little, the handshake lingers, and Bruce doesn't even try to get Clark's hand off his shoulder.</p><p>Lois is sure if Clark dared to, Bruce would let himself be drawn into a hug.</p><p>It's more than Dick ever seems to get.</p><p>"Lois," Bruce greets her with a nod, truly reserved in seconds. No smile to witness. They haven't liked each other <em>ever</em>. Clark sometimes mutters that they are too alike. Lois tends to ignore it.</p><p>"How have your quiet days been so far?" Bruce asks as they settle at their table, a small smile on his lips that disappears as fast as it came as his gaze wanders the second Clark begins to talk.</p><p>"Ma definitely likes having us around. She's getting too old to handle the animals and the sheer workload. The farmhands help, but they aren't family."</p><p>Or Kryptonian is understood.</p><p>The sharp blue eyes scrutinize him as Clark takes a moment to consider what he wants to say, or maybe Clark simply stops to let the words sink in, hoping for a response. It doesn’t come, so Clark continues, and Bruce's gaze begins to wander again. Clark seems happy enough to indulge in the one-sided small talk, though.</p><p>"I'm guessing you need something from me," Bruce speaks up once their wine arrives. Or rather Clark's and hers. A steaming mug of herbal tea is placed in front of Bruce. Lois thinks it looks less than appetizing. One of many reasons why Bruce and she aren't alike. At all.</p><p>Clark trails off, was still talking about the calves that were born a few weeks ago. Every bit of Bruce's attention has shifted to her, and Clark's smile falls a little.</p><p>"Yes," Lois replies, "I noticed your behavior around Dick."</p><p>Bruce's gaze darkens, muscle in his jaw twitching. "Haven't you done enough damage with your assumptions throughout the years?"</p><p>Lois snorts, derisive. Fine, maybe it's a sore point to her as well. She doesn't like to be in the wrong. "I wasn't the only one. If I had been, no one would have listened back then."</p><p>"What Lois means," Clark interjects, a hand settling atop hers, "is, that she noticed that you're a bit... cold towards Dick."</p><p>"Cold?" Bruce asks, daring them to go on, looking as if he wants them to know that he can be chilling. Lois frowns at his tightly curled hand atop the table. She wasn't wrong. There still is something between them. Considering all the things she has heard from Clark that isn't shocking.</p><p>"Come on, Bruce," Clark encourages with a wry smile, "You do remember Atlantis."</p><p>Bruce's gaze grows even sharper, and Lois cocks her head. She hasn't heard about that.</p><p>"He was worried about you. You could have been," Clark trails off, shrugging, wincing as he remembers <em>and</em> sees Bruce's eyebrows draw further together in the faintest movement. Lois thinks Superman caves a little too fast in front of Batman. Luckily, she doesn't and neither does Nightwing.</p><p>"Hiding in the corner," Dick greets them with a blinding smile that edges into a grin, hand touching Bruce's shoulder before he rounds the table to slide beside him into the booth. "Was that Bruce's idea or yours, Lois?" Dick wonders in amusement, his body language more open than any of theirs, movements fluid in a way that always makes them seem so easy that his mere presence tends to lighten the mood. If Dick feels like it.</p><p>Bruce's frown eases a little, the tension bleeds out of his shoulders as the attentive eyes follow Dick's movements. There is faint surprise written all over his face that makes Lois feel strange. Dick snatches the menu from in-front of Bruce, meeting the slight frown with a winning smile, Dick so boyish and charming and close to Bruce that it's nearly jarring when he doesn't tilt his head to brush a kiss against his former guardian’s cheek.</p><p>The thought nearly makes her recoil in shock.</p><p>Then, the tension is all too present again, forcing her wide gaze away from Dick. </p><p>Angry blue thrills into hers.</p><p>"I wanted to apologize," she returns the first thing that comes to her mind.</p><p>"For what?" Dick asks, cocking his head. They are sitting nearer than they usually get. The booth is small considering Bruce's frame, and Dick almost seems to lean into him. Lois can see that Bruce has noticed too. His hand has curled into a fist above the table. The shoulder nearest to Dick is so unbearably tense that it sits a bit higher than his other.</p><p>"For the articles about child abuse."</p><p>Dick looks at her in such a perfect mixture of calculation and understanding that she can clearly see, why he is a Bat with a Kryptonian name.</p><p>"You weren't meant to figure out the truth. You could have been right."</p><p>"But we appreciate your apology," Bruce interjects, expression passive as he stands up smoothly. "Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m afraid I’ll have to take a call. Feel free to order under my name."</p><p>And with that Bruce is gone. Dick looks after him with an expression that is gone too fast for Lois to place. Then he turns back to them.</p><p>"Is someone going to enlighten me?"</p><p>His voice still swings with a certain lightness, but it barely hides the hard edge. Isn’t supposed to. Only makes him sound more dangerous. Clark shifts - nervous again - as if he is afraid of changing the status quo; as if calling Bruce out will result in a bigger train wreck.</p><p>"When was the last time you hugged?" </p><p>Lips part, then a thoughtful look settles on Dick's face, his defenses easing as fast as they appeared.</p><p>"I don't know. Maybe Atlantis?"</p><p>Clark doesn't say anything, but she can feel him tense, which means Atlantis has been quite some time ago. Dick's gaze has drifted outside, shies away from Bruce as if just seeing the businessman on his phone hurts him now that he is forced to think about the distance between them.</p><p>"And when was the last time he hugged you back?" Lois asks, picking at the new information, and Dick tenses up, gaze snapping to her.</p><p>"He doesn't have to. I'm not entitled to his hugs. I don't want to make him uncomfortable," Dick snaps, words such a kneejerk reaction that Lois all but winces. Only the end speaks of his uncertainty.</p><p>If Dick wants to admit it or not, Bruce is hurting him.</p><p>"It doesn't seem to me as if Bruce Wayne truly has an aversion to hugging," Lois replies calmly. "And I believe you very much deserve to be hugged."</p><p>"Well, apparently that's not true," Dick lashes out with a sneer. The words seem to ring around them. The blue eyes widen. His tension keeps him unbearably still, then he shifts. "I should..."</p><p>"Dick," Clark says softly, keeping the wide-eyed boy in his place. "It's ok."</p><p>Dick stares at the large hand on his. Sometimes Lois forgets how slight he is compared to so many of the other heroes he is surrounded by. She wonders if Dick sometimes feels that difference more than he lets on.</p><p>"No," Dick whispers, and Lois shoos the waitress away with a hand gesture. There is no need for this to get on the internet. "No matter what I do it's...," Dick huffs out a laugh. "I make him uncomfortable."</p><p>His gaze doesn't rise from the table, and Clark's hand squeezes his smaller one. Clark's lips have parted. They betray his speechlessness. It's not often anymore that anything leaves Clark lost for words. </p><p>Lois stands up from her seat, has two blue pairs of eyes sticking to her immediately.</p><p>"I think you should talk with Clark alone," she says and is off before they can disagree. Her heels click against the ground as she makes to join Bruce no matter how much he doesn't want her to.</p><p>Their gazes meet, and Bruce ends the call before she can overhear any information.</p><p>"I was twenty-three when you accused me of abusing him."</p><p>"You dealt with it just fine," Lois replies, hears the anger behind the words. What happened, happened. There is no reason to punish Dick for it. The very same boy the media tried to protect all those years ago.</p><p>Bruce's gaze rests on her for a moment longer, then he lets it brush over the wide fields spreading out in front of them.</p><p>"If you don't want me to make assumptions, then you should tell me what's going on."</p><p>"I don't owe you an explanation, Lois. Do what you will with your assumptions."</p><p>Lois snorts out a disbelieving laugh. She has heard those words a lot. Usually accompanied by a 'Ms. Lane' instead of a 'Lois'. The thing is, she isn't here to nail Bruce to a headline, otherwise, she would do exactly what he said and be done with it.</p><p>"You’re hurting him. Do you think that's fair?"</p><p>Bruce glances at his watch, then at the parking lot only to settle on the blue and black bike that undeniably belongs to Dick. "Tell them something came up."</p><p>Lois glares after him with crossed arms. If Clark ever compares her to Bruce again, she'll take it as an insult.</p><p>"When was the first time you got hard while hugging him?"</p><p>Bruce's head snaps up, fury in his eyes. It almost scares her, but she has survived worse men.</p><p>"You'll hear from my lawyers, Lane."</p><p>"I'm not accusing you of doing anything," she replies, “But sure, <em>Bruce</em>, talk to your lawyers instead of your son. Seems to be a given in your <em>family</em>."</p><p>His gaze has turned more hateful than ever before, and if Bruce Wayne were truly nothing more than a billionaire philanthropist with a little darkness inside of him, her career would be other. As it is, he isn't. Additionally, he would never do that to Clark.</p><p>Lois turns around, leaves the stoic bastard in the parking lot to join two blue-eyed and black-haired men she prefers far more.</p><p>"He," Lois cuts herself off as she sees and hears the sleek, black racecar rush onto the street, staring after it a little flabbergasted. Dick chuckles at her expression.</p><p>"It's ok. Responsibilities are his thing," Dick says as if it's normal for Bruce to just disappear... which it is.</p><p>"Are you ready to talk about the hugging?" Lois asks, settling down and kissing Clark on the cheek as thanks for getting her melon with ham as an entree. Her gaze slides to Bruce's place. The herbal tea isn't steaming anymore. He barely touched it, and there are shrimps in still heated garlic oil waiting for him.</p><p>"So, this is an interview after all? Didn't you say it wouldn't be on the phone?" Dick teases, something else behind it. He truly doesn't want to talk about their relationship, and she gets it.</p><p>"Should I share my assumptions then?" she has started this, and she won't let it go now. She doesn't know if Dick sees the same things she does, she doesn't if something happened that made them drift apart that much. Right now, the distance between them seems entirely of Bruce’s making.</p><p>Dick places his fork to the side, gaze falling to the empty place beside him.</p><p>"I don't know. I," Dick breaths in, "I've ignored it for so long, no matter how much it hurts. Sometimes I forget that things are different and then the next holiday comes around or someone else just hugs him, and I'll remember that no... no, that's not something I get."</p><p>Lois could see on the gala that things weren’t right. She assumed it hurt. It's the only reason they are sitting in this very restaurant right now. <em>Seeing</em> Dick's pain is different. It looks a lot like shame.</p><p>"Do you think of him as your father?"</p><p>Dick cocks his head, attention nearly sliding to Clark before shying away from him to fall back to her. A wry smile pulls on his lips, fingers squeezing the napkin.</p><p>"I should, shouldn't I?"</p><p>"Bruce was young when he took you in. Older than you, but... I can see why you might not have thought of him as your dad then. You were twelve. Your father had just died.” Dick’s lips twitch, and Lois carries on. “Your feelings obviously didn’t change later. You only stayed at the manor for five years."</p><p>Dick laughs, there is a tremor in his hand. "Another tale the media spun... differently."</p><p>It's quiet for some time, yet Lois doesn't eat, neither does Clark. Dick still can't look at him, barely looks at her.</p><p>"Bruce is," Dick rubs across his face, exhales to calm his nerves. "Always there. Always at the back of my mind. At the end of the day, I will always love him... and--and <em>choose him</em> if my ex-fiancés are to be believed."</p><p>The last point comes drily amused across Dick's lips, it's no less loving. Lois can't say that she has ever been jealous of Martha even though Clark is a Mommy's boy. Then again, Martha isn’t omnipresent Batman.</p><p>“Bruce loves you just as much,” Clark says, nearly a bit brusque. He probably doesn’t truly know what to do with all the new information. Maybe he had his own assumptions over the years. Lois agrees. Bruce loves Dick. Loves him enough to hurt him with his actions. Actions that are supposed to keep Dick away from a truth that might destroy the relationship they have. Lois thinks it's as stupid as admirable. Bruce clearly doesn't want to take advantage, and Lois applauds that, but she isn't a believer of ‘keeping quiet about an issue means it'll go away’.</p><p>"Yeah," Dick murmurs, staring at his Camembert as if Bruce might just jump out of the fried cheese any minute now and scream ‘I love you’ into his face. "So I've heard."</p><p>Lois doesn't press further, and Clark takes the lull to tell Dick about the farm, slowly working a smile back onto the young man's face.</p><p>Surprisingly, Bruce returns just as Dick steals the last shrimp from his plate. It’s near comical when Dick stops immediately, looking caught, fork to his mouth, and his eyes wide. Bruce sighs, looking tired and worn-out but in an oddly fond way.</p><p>"Eat it," he murmurs, and Dick does, shifting a little out of the way, maybe in the hopes that Bruce won't leave again. His head is slightly bowed, and Bruce watches him with a gnarled expression, hand curling to a fist once more. It's not the same intense anger he directed at her, Lois notes. Then it morphs right back into exactly that. </p><p>His attention shifts; accusation in his eyes.</p><p>"Did you say the same thing to him you said to me?"</p><p>"No."</p><p>She won't repeat that in front of Clark. He'll either be affronted that she said something so vulgar, be shocked enough to refuse to hear Bruce out, or plainly be disgusted by the both of them. He'd also whisk Dick away in a second, barricading him in the Fortress of Solitude like an out-of-place Rapunzel.</p><p>Dick looks at her questioningly, but Lois doesn't say anything and neither does Bruce.</p><p>"Alright," Clark interjects slowly, adorably confused, which means he was too focused on Dick to eavesdrop. "Should we order main course?"</p><p>"Sure," Bruce replies, "On another topic, you said Martha is doing better?"</p><p>Clark smiles, thankful for the excuse to enter easy conversation, and begins to tell them about Martha's recovery from her eye lens surgery. Dick easily takes it up from there, talking about Alfred, roping Bruce into the conversation, and teasing them into revealing whether they are already making plans for the future, especially concerning children. </p><p>The way Bruce seems to give all his focus to Dick the second he starts speaking is hard to miss and equally as hard to unpack. There are surprise and guilt, and the tentative shift towards Dick is utterly heartbreaking. Lois wonders how long it has been since Bruce talked to him without crimefighting taking prevalence over any other topic.</p><p>The evening comes to an end rather amicably when Bruce pays for their dinner despite everyone's complaints and doesn’t disappear again.</p><p>They step out of the restaurant together, and yet Bruce is at his car first, obviously trying to escape further conversations. Dick huffs out a disbelieving sound beside her, and as he turns towards Clark to say goodbye Lois realizes that the motorbike is gone.</p><p>"Seems as if I'm going with Bruce. Thanks for the invite," Dick grins, letting himself be drawn into a bear hug, then escaping between the muscled arms seconds later like an enthusiastic gopher. "Please never invite me again. It was awful."</p><p>Lois laughs. "Can't promise anything," she teases as he hugs her too, and she holds him close for a moment longer.</p><p>"Hug him," she whispers into his ear, ignores Clark's raised eyebrows when Dick pulls back uncertainly.</p><p>Bruce is waiting on the driver's side with his arms crossed, but his physical defenses fall the second he realized that Dick's goal isn't the passenger side. The panic flashes over his face near comically. She hears Dick laugh gently, not even thinking of calming Bruce down, simply doing so. He places a hand on the broad shoulder that slowly relaxes beneath the touch. His exuberance has him swing to his toes and-- Lois lets out a breath, eyes closing as Dick pulls back, not daring to do more than reach out.</p><p>"Dick."</p><p>Her eyes snap back open, brain not quite comprehending that between then and now Bruce reached out for Dick, a large hand curling around the young man's wrist.</p><p>Nothing happens till Dick eases a hesitant step closer, an unsure smile on his face that screams of hope. His gaze widens as he is drawn into a proper hug, a hand cupping his neck as Bruce brings their bodies together. Dick's chin digs into Bruce’s shoulder, his body so tense it seems as if one touch more might break him.</p><p>"Dick?"</p><p>The blue eyes shimmer wetly in the half-dark, close as Dick relaxes into the embrace, pushing nearer, hands curling into the back of the jacket Bruce is wearing and mouth pressing to his shoulder. The vulnerability is carved so deeply into his half-hidden face Lois averts her gaze, pulling Clark into a mutual one-armed embrace to steer him back to their car.</p><p>"What is it?" Bruce asks, gently, and finally, Clark too looks away, free hand coming up to push at his glasses. His fluster makes Lois’ chest go tight; she cradles him a little nearer as Dick’s voice carries over the parking lot.</p><p>"It's just," the words are muffled; thick with tears, "you haven't hugged me in years."</p>
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